The invention relates to a device for merging two-piece goods streams arranged at different heights or also vertically above one another, with an upper feed channel for receiving packages from an upper piece goods stream and a lower feed channel for receiving packages from a lower piece goods stream. In an exemplary embodiment the merging device can concern a terminal and the piece goods streams can concern conveying devices or sorting devices, wherein a sorting device provided with such a terminal consists of at least one upper and one lower sorting device. Preferably the sorting devices have conveying directions, which are opposed to each other. Conceivably the conveying directions could also be the same.
In the case of such a device, the feed channels of which extend between a first vertical plane and a parallel second vertical plane, whose distance from each other corresponds to a total channel width of the device, it is difficult to merge the feed channels in an advantageous way in order to direct the packages from the piece goods streams downstream to a discharge channel. In the case of a well-known embodiment the feed channels are merged next to each other, each feed channel having a width, which corresponds to half the total channel width. In the case of such an embodiment it can relatively easily happen that packages, the largest dimension of which is greater than half the total channel width, get jammed in a feed channel when being unloaded, possibly leading to substantial operational problems.